Simon Says - Spring/Easter

Hi everyone,

Monday has come around again, and I'm here with my third card as Guest Designer for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.

This week the theme is

Spring / Easter

The lovely folks over at Simon Says Stamp are generously giving away a FABULOUS $25 voucher to shop at the  Simon Says Stamp Store! All you have to do is take out your crafty supplies, make something following this week’s prompt, and add a link in the Inlinkz  on the challenge blog post!  You can enter 5 times so that's 5 possible chances to win! All winners are chosen randomly, so everyone has an equal chance - good luck everyone!

Here's my card for this week - a Lavinia meadow scene with spring flowers (bluebells and Welsh or California poppies), bunny and bird, and blossom on the trees. I know that in reality these things wouldn’t all happen at the same time or in the same field, but in the magical world of Lavinia anything is possible!! (links to my supplies are below the description)

I cut a square of white stamping card and used  large and small circle masks and my Lavinia acetate hill masks to create a circular background of hills, sky and sun with Distress Oxide inks (Salty Ocean, Broken China, Tumbled Glass, Twisted Citron,  Bundled Sage, Mowed Lawn, Squeezed Lemonade). I used a home made reverse circle mask to mask the outer portion of the card, stamped the gate and fence using Versafine (Vintage Sepia), and the bird using the same ink and shaded with Versafine Clair (Pinecone). 

I stamped a "background" row of bluebells then a "middle" row, then a “foreground” row using Shaded Lilac, Blueprint Sketch and Wilted Violet  Distress Oxides. I removed the mask then stamped the hare using Nocturne VFC and the poppies using Cheerful and Verdant VFC. I added some background trees  on the hills using 1st and 2nd generation stamping, and added a little blossom using Spun Sugar and Kitsch Flamingo DO. I stamped the "Secret Garden" sign in the bottom corner, then stamped again onto separate card, covered in blended Antique Linen Distress ink, then fussy cut and attached popped up on foam tape. 

I added a couple of wispy clouds over the sun using torn paper and Stormy Sky DO, then highlighted the sun, animals and poppies with Sakura Stardust pens to add some sparkle, and added a few tiny flowers to the ground with acrylic paint pens. Finally I added a sentiment, edged the finished panel with black marker pen and matted simply onto blue linen card stock and my card base.  

Here are links to what I used: 

Stamps: Lavinia Wild Hares Set (Large), Garden Poppy, Bluebells, Gate and Fence, Bird Collection, Small Trees, Secret Garden; sentiment - retired Penny Black;

Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Salty Ocean, Broken China, Tumbled Glass, Stormy Sky, Squeezed Lemonade, Twisted Citron, Bundled Sage, Mowed Lawn, Shaded Lilac, Blueprint Sketch, Wilted Violet, Kitsch Flamingo, Spun Sugar); Distress Ink (Antique Linen); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Pinecone, Cheerful, Verdant); Versafine (Vintage Sepia); Sakura Gelly Roll Stardust Galaxy gel pens (yellow); Sakura Gelly Roll Stardust Meteor gel pens (orange);
Tools:  Lavinia Acetate Hill Mask Stencils. 

Don’t forget to visit the challenge blog to see the amazing inspiration from the rest of the Design Team.

You have until Monday  8 am Ohio time, 1 pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in.

Challenges I would like to enter:

2 Sisters On the Blog #72 - Spring/Easter

Crafter’s Cafe #295 - Circles

Critter Crazy #72 - Anything Goes With a Featured Critter (2nd entry)

Daisy Chain Challenge #72 - Flowers (3rd entry)

Four Seasons (March) - Spring (2nd entry)

Make My Monday #196 - Spring Colours (2nd entry) - TOP PICK

Sweet Stampin’ - Spring/Easter

We Love Stamping (March) - Anything Stamped with option Spring Is In the Air (3rd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #587/588 - Anything Goes (3rd entry)

I am also entering a version of this card (without sentiment) into the Lavinia Monthly Creative Challenge “Bursting With Colour”.

Take care, and thanks for visiting my blog today.

Hugs,